Killing the ninjas is much easier than defeating them. Kai finds out the second he switches places with Baekhyun, and attacks the ninja that has Baekhyun’s abilities and strength. In his wolf form, Kai can take on practically anyone.

He jumps at the ninja, trying to bite it in the shoulder, but the creature ducks away to the left and elbows Kai in the head; he feels pain spread in his skull, and his head tilts to the side. He quickly composes himself, though, and attacks again. He’s faster than the ninja, so he straight-up shoves at it as fast and strong as possible. The creature flies towards a nearby tree, hits it and slides off of it, its katana dropping onto the ground in the process. Kai doesn’t have to finish it off, because Baekhyun snatches the katana off the grass and pierces it through the ninja’s heart.

It turns into smoke right away, and the katana disappears from Baekhyun’s grip.

He looks at Kai, surprised; Kai nods his huge head at you, and at the ninja you’re fighting, and Baekhyun takes the hint. He looks at you and your opponent and chooses the right moment to dive into the trees and sneak up on it. He waits behind the trees, preparing his claws, and waits.

Thing is, he’s not sure if he’ll ever be able to approach the ninja with your powers.

There’s just too much happening between the two of you.

You keep on flicking your wrists, light, flames, and pure magic flying out of your hands; every now and then, you need to make a barrier in front of yourself, as the ninja attacking you does the same. It’s a never-ending exchange of magical bullets, so to speak, and each of them bounces off the barriers the two of you make; it makes it almost impossible for Baekhyun to attack. 

He sees someone approaching. It’s Kyungsoo. He’s taken care of his ninja as well, or so it seems.

A literal spherical lightning flies past them, between their heads, and their hair stand up. They look like Einstein. They exchange absolutely terrified looks, and Baekhyun swallows hard in addition.

Meanwhile, you’re beginning to feel tired.

No matter what you do, the ninja just pushes your powers away, and comes back with just as much. You’re not sure how to surprise it, so for now you’re just hoping that the ninja will lose its abilities after some time. After all, this can’t last forever. There must be a limit to its powers. It’s impossible for one to suddenly gain mage magic.  

*

Taemin is wiggling his legs. He’s also biting at his lower lip, and Iseul is sure that he’ll bite through the skin there in a second, and taste blood on his tongue. She can hear his heart going crazy with nerves, and because of that, she feels anxious herself.

Her pack died because of Mabeob. She brought them here, to Kai’s pack. What if they die, too?

“I’m gonna go,” Taemin announces suddenly, standing up. Choco whimpers when Taemin almost knocks off his chair. “I gotta help.”

“You can’t help,” Iseul replies, her voice sounding a bit harsh. “They’re different that your usual, mindless monsters. You won’t defeat them with a baseball bat.”

“I could try,” Taemin replies, hissing a little and trying to bite down something a lot meaner to say. That girl is slowly starting to get on his nerves.

“Then you’ll die,” she says angrily. He can’t see her face; she’s on the couch, her back turned towards him. He grabs at his baseball bat and takes his backpack, as well. “Humans are a weak link. Once one of you dies, or gets taken, it’s game over.” Iseul adds, quieter this time.

Taemin stops mid-way and turns on his heels so that he can see her head.

“We’re not a weak link,” he says, slowly, seriously. “We’re as valuable as any other member, and we hold the pack together. And we can kick , too.”

With this, he leaves the loft, leaving Choco and Iseul alone.

*

Everyone’s attacking the ninja who has your powers.

The boys keep on trying to sneak up to it. They throw daggers and knives, but they don’t have many of them. The ninja just bounces them back, or dodges them, no matter what side they come from; you feel a bit proud knowing that it’s practically your copycat, and it’s able to hold its ground against thirteen werewolves and a mage.

You’re sweaty, tired, and your muscles are all strained. But you can’t stop, because when you do, the pain will come. So you keep on attacking.

But the ninja is getting out of hand.

Kris gets hit with a spell that binds him completely. He’s lying, seemingly lifeless, on the ground; Luhan drags him away, towards the tree line. The ground underneath your feet isn’t green and covered with grass like when you first arrived, it looks like most of it has been dug out and someone tried to put all the chunks of soil back in place. The trees closest to you are either on fire, cracked from lightning, or tilted to the side because of the wind.

Kyungsoo gets his arm slashed by a sharp whiff of wind. Chen gets electrocuted, which is not a good thing for a werewolf; it’s one of the ways of killing them. You push him away from the battlefield using telekinesis, but the short second you reserve for it allows the ninja to hit you with a binding spell.

And that’s the worst thing that can happen right now.

You feel yourself flying, invisible ropes going tight around you. You flip horizontally a few times, still in the air, like a curved ball; then you hit the ground, hard, and it knocks the air out of your lungs. You want to shout, but you can’t. The boys all jump at the ninja then, desperate to protect you, as you start whispering an unbinding spell, praying that you remember it correctly. You watch as the ninja gets closer, having surrounded itself with an invisible barrier that pushes the boys away.

Kai stands in front of you, his fur standing up, a low growl emitting from his chest.

You’re about to finish your spell when you hear a voice, and notice some movement on your right.

“Here, you ugly duck!” someone shouts. At first, you don’t recognize them, and you can’t pinpoint them with your triangle tattoo. But then you see heavy boots and a shotgun strapped to their belt.

It’s Myungsoo, and he’s waving at the ninja.

Fear overflows you. You finish your spell and you feel the ropes break free around you. You stands up jerkily, your muscles straining, and you watch in terror as the ninja turns and heads for Myungsoo.

You raise your hands, ready to fire, when Kai barks at you. You glance up to see him lowering his head at you, his eyes completely red. Then you hear a loud poof kinda sound.

You look at Myungsoo, who’s stopped in front of the ninja with his arms stretched out to the sides and a grin on his face.

The ninja is holding a whip made of magic. Everyone else is frozen in place, but the creature doesn’t realize this. You don’t think they can actually think, they just attack whoever stands in their way. So when Myungsoo gets it attention, it attacks him.

The ninja moves its wrist and the whip flies towards Myungsoo.

It swishes right through him.

The ninja freezes, confused. Myungsoo’s grin grows wider, and then a bullet shoots through the air, getting the ninja straight in the head. It dissolves into thick smoke, then disappears completely, and the bullet hits the ground.

Everyone is silent. You look around, confused.

And then you finally remember. Myungsoo is magic-resistant.

You look back, to where you think the bullet came from, and you see some movement. Your eyes stop on Taemin, who’s just jumped off a tree and is holding a sniper rifle. He’s just on the outskirts of the clearing, and he looks smug as hell.

“Hey guys,” he says, swaggering onto the battlefield like he owns the place. Well, he kinda does. Myungsoo is grinning at him, and when they finally get close enough, they high-five, matching smiles visible on their faces. Taemin stands next to Myungsoo, his rifle steady in his arms. He looks around the pack, outwardly grinning at you all. “You look worn-out.”

“Ugly duck?” Chen parrots, snorting out loud. Myungsoo shrugs, his smile not leaving his lips.

“I was improvising,” he explains.

“It was good, it was okay,” Chanyeol says, nodding wisely.

“Not the best you could come up with, but,” Sehun adds, shrugging.

“Still did its job,” Min finishes. They’re all grinning now.

All except for you, because that’s when the pain comes.

*

You open your eyes to sounds of TV. You can see the lights of it on the ceiling above your head, and you can feel something warm wrapped around your calves. You look down to see Choco sleeping on your legs, his head on your thigh. He doesn’t even stir when you move. You look at the TV, then at the window, trying to guess what time it is.

What the hell even happened? All you can remember is pain.

Your senses slowly come back, and that includes your triangle tattoo. It warms up. As on cue, two curious faces peek at you from behind the couch.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo greets. Chanyeol grins at you. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” you say, nodding. You sit up, trying not to wake Choco. It’s no use; he wakes up anyways, and looks at you like you’ve betrayed him. “What happened?”

“You passed out,” Chanyeol explains. “From the pain, we think.”

“That’s not good,” you comment, cringing.

“It’s been a while since you’ve used so much magic at once,” Kyungsoo notes.

“Yeah, and it did nothing,” you mutter. You wiggle around until your feet touch the floor. You look up at Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol assures. “Chen’s still a bit weary after getting hit by electricity, but besides that, we’re all good.”

“It was a close call, though,” Kyungsoo admits. “If it wasn’t for Sulli—“

“Right!” you exclaim. “How the hell did she do that?”

“Daehyun said something about her using Krystal to communicate with us,” Chanyeol says. “He’s pissed about it, really. He said Krystal out right after Sulli used her.”

You look at him, frowning deeply. “Sulli used Krystal’s powers to contact us somehow?”

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo shrug in unison. “Apparently. We haven’t been able to get much out of Sulli, Krystal is sleeping, Daehyun and the rest of the Jungs are pissed…we thought you could supply us with answers,” Kyungsoo says.

You think back to when you heard Sulli’s voice. Krystal’s mind was very open, literally – she could hear thoughts. Who said it’s impossible for her brain to work in an opposite way? Still, for Sulli to make her do something as hard as contacting you all – so many of you, and from afar – was irresponsible. You weren’t surprised her siblings were pissed. Her brain could’ve overreacted, or something. If Sulli used Krystal in a way you suspect she did, after all.

On the other hand, it was an emergency, and if Sulli didn’t react quickly enough, you could’ve had some people to bury today.

“From other news, Kai thanked Myungsoo for saving your life,” Chanyeol decides to bring up. “It was very touching.”

“This whole thing was scary,” you say. “I’m not gonna lie, I was this close to ting my pants when I realized that damn ninja had the same powers I do. But it could probably use them without worrying about the price it’s going to pay.”

“It was pretty terrifying,” Kyungsoo admits. “At this point, I think that only Father could take you on. And Amber, maybe, if she managed to trap you in an illusion.”

“Myungsoo is definitely today’s hero, though,” Chanyeol smiles. “Him and Taemin.”

“Iseul looks salty about that, by the way,” Kyungsoo butts in.

“Ah, yes. Her sodium levels are through the roof,” Chanyeol comments, grinning.

“What?” you ask. You look between them. “Why?”

“Well,” Kyungsoo exhales sharply. “Yunho actually managed to read her.”

“Read her?” you squint at him. “Ah, as in touch her and see her memories. Okay.”

“Yeah.”

“Well? What did he see?”

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo glance at each other.

“Something dark, that’s for sure,” Chanyeol says regretfully. “And we think we know why she reacts so poorly to humans in a pack.”

*

Kris takes Iseul to a gym. She’s not sure why. It’s closed already – at least it should be, it’s late – but the door isn’t closed. He doesn’t really explain. He looks tired and worn-out, and Iseul guesses he’s still feeling the battle.

The battle her own pack couldn’t win.

“Here,” Kris says, leading her through corridors. They finally reach a big room full of mats; they’re spread on the floor. There’s weapons in almost every corner of the room, and it’s huge and tall; it must take at least two stories up. “This is our training spot.”

She peeks through the door and stops short at the sight.

Taemin and Kai are in the middle of the room. They’re both wearing cotton joggers and are barefoot, and Taemin is, in addition, not wearing a shirt.

They’re both armed with some long wooden sticks that are made to practice sword fighting, or at least she thinks so.

She gets completely transfixed in the way they fight.

Their movements are quick, swift, and seem almost deadly. They move on their feet as gracefully as ballerinas dance; every inch of their body is in full control, and they seem to be in perfect sync. When Taemin attacks, Kai blocks or ducks, and is already making the next move; when Taemin sees him coming, he reacts accurately.

Thing is, Iseul sees Kai using his werewolf powers a few times. He mostly fights normally, and he’s definitely holding back on the werewolf factor, but there are times when Iseul can see his muscles strain from power, or his eyes flash red.

And Taemin is able to push back every single time.

It looks like dancing.

That is, until Taemin moves like he’s about to do one thing, but does the opposite, and Kai ends up on the ground. Taemin already looks smug, his stick swishing through the air as he aims at Kai’s throat.

Kai moves as well, though, and his own stick flies up.

They both freeze at the same time. Taemin, standing up, with Kai’s stick touching his neck, and Kai, lying on the floor, Taemin’s stick touching his Adam’s apple.

Iseul hears some voices then, and realizes there’s more people in the room.

“A draw again?” Baekhyun nags. “Couldn’t one of you lose at least once?”

“Right? Why couldn’t you, Kai?” Taemin asks, taking his stick away and grinning down at his brother. He reaches out for him with his free hand, and heaves Kai up onto his feet. “At least once.”

“All the bets are against Kai,” Amber says, laughing. She, Baekhyun, Minjoon and Heejin have been watching the fight. “We can’t wait for you to make a mistake, darling.”

“All the more reason to watch myself,” Kai comments, shooting Amber a glare. Amber just smiles at him.

“Stop being sassy with him,” Kris speaks up, announcing his and Iseul’s presence. Everyone’s heads snap up at them. Kris walks past Iseul, and deeper into the room; she stays by the door, feeling a bit awkward. “You know he doesn’t take that well.”

“He’ll live,” Amber says, rolling her eyes. “You came to practice, too?”

“No, I was just bored,” Kris replies. “Wanted to show Iseul around.”

They all look at her. Heejin smiles at her, and motions her to come and sit, but Iseul’s frown just grows deeper at that.

“I’ll wait by the door,” she says, turning on her heel and walking away in long strides. Kris and Kai exchange glances.

“This one is a hard nut to crack,” Taemin comments sarcastically.

“Have some compassion,” Kai says sharply. He wants to say something more, but Kris suddenly shushes him, so Kai closes his mouth with a click. He shakes his head at Taemin, who mouths ‘what?’ and walks away, heading for the locker room.

“Dal woke up,” he hears Baekhyun say before he exits the room.

And because the universe is against him, he sorta almost stumbles over Iseul, who decided to sit down by the wall in the ing wherever. He stops short when he sees her, and she looks at him like an angry animal, glaring stronger than Kai.

“One more second and you’re gonna start hissing at me like an angry cat,” Taemin sputters, outwardly cringing at her and walking past her. He’s done with her bull. He’s done with people treating him worse just because he doesn’t have super strength or can’t grow fangs; he’s done caring about them.

*

“Iseul’s pack was murdered,” Chanyeol says. Your eyes widen. You knew she lost her pack, but you didn’t know the circumstances, and the blunt words Chanyeol uses to inform you about this makes your blood run cold. “And Yunho saw it all. Glimpses of them all dying. There were seven of them in total, and six of them died. And Yunho says…” Chanyeol trails off. He looks to the side, his hands twitching nervously. “He says there was a human boy in Iseul’s pack. When Iseul said ‘no’ to Saburo, they took that boy and set a trap for the werewolves. Yunho isn’t sure how it went down, but Iseul barely managed to live through the attack, and the rest were killed.”

“Amber did some digging,” Kyungsoo interrupts. “The police found their bodies. The whole city is shook. Mabeob didn’t even bother hiding anything, they left them all as they were, and the people around there started calling the whole thing a massacre. Because it was. Iseul’s pack members were all pretty much mauled to death.”

You’re a bit breathless.

*

Krystal wakes up next to someone. She can feel them spooning her, and at first she thinks it might be Daehyun (he comes sleep with her sometimes, when he has bad dreams or is paranoid about something), but if it’d be him, she’d hear his thoughts. So she guesses right away that it’s Myungsoo.

She turns onto the other side as calmly as she can, careful not to wake him up. Myungsoo stirs a little. Krystal’s head is lying on his bicep, and his other arm was draped over her middle up until now. It slid off, and he placed it sort of in the middle of them both.

Krystal sees his face very clearly. They’re lying close, and there’s light coming in through the window; it must be close to the full moon. She wonders why her brothers let him into her bed, but can’t come up with a legit answer besides the obvious ‘they must really like him’.

She’s grateful for that, because she likes him a lot too.

At first, she was just interested in him. He’s handsome and she can’t hear his thoughts, after all; is there more to ask for? But then curiosity turned into attraction, and now she was full-on crushing on him hard, harder than she’d ever crushed on anyone.

It was ironic, though. The only person she only ever truly cared about – apart from her family, of course – is the only person she can’t read the thoughts of. On one hand, it puts her at ease. On the other – it makes her doubt herself.

She always knows when people like or dislike her. She knows what people really think of her. But she has no access to Myungsoo’s mind, so she can’t possibly know whether or not he likes her the way she does, or whether or not he’s willing to try being with her. It’s the first time in Krystal’s life when she’s unsure of something like this.

She stares at him sleeping for a few seconds longer. He furrows his brows ever so slightly, but overall his face is at ease, and his breathing is even. His lips are completely closed, and his face is half-mushed into his pillow. Krystal thinks he’s gonna have imprints of it on his cheek.

She decides that she feels weird staring at him while he sleeps, so she pokes him on the stomach gently. She swears it’s not to feel his abs. Myungsoo stirs a little, his nose scrunching. He lifts his head a little and then he blinks his eyes open, confused. It takes him a few seconds to recognize Krystal, but when he does, confusion is replaced with relief on his face.

“Hey,” he whispers, his voice raspy. He’s still sleepy, so he puts his head back on the pillow, closing his eyes. At the same time, he grabs at Krystal’s hand, the one she poked him with. He lifts their interlaced fingers and puts them to his heart, not fully conscious of his actions; now, Krystal is lying on her left side, her left arm on her side, and her right held inside Myungsoo’s left palm. His right arm is still used as a pillow by Krystal. “How are you feeling?” he mumbles, looking like he’s going to doze right off again in a second.

“Fine,” Krystal says, a huge grin appearing on her lips. He’s way too cute, she’s going to die.

“Mm, yeah?” he mutters. “Good. I defeated a ninja for you.”

“Did you now?”

“Mm. He had this…black drape-y thing…”

Krystal pursues her lips at the cuteness. Myungsoo looks like he’s asleep again, so she wiggles a bit closer to him, only now realizing that there’s a blanket lying on their feet. She probably kicked it off, like she usually does. Still, Myungsoo’s body heat is enough to keep her warm, especially when she shifts a little so that her head is tucked closer to Myungsoo’s chest than to his face, like before.

Myungsoo says something, but it’s incoherent. Krystal isn’t sleepy anymore, but she’s not going to pass on an occasion like this.

“My hero,” she whispers, giddy, butterflies filling her stomach.

She feels his lips touch the top of her head. He leaves the softest kiss there, and pulls her closer to himself. Silence falls between tem, and Krystal once again begins to feel drowsy. That is, until Myungsoo speaks up again.

“I like you.” 

So many ships arghhh

Okay so toniluv was the first person who's guessed that Myungsoo is going to be the one to defeat the ninja. The second person to guess it was Rb2012. Then Rasmee guessed it right :) But toniluv is def a winner here. I know that Taemin is the one who shot the ninja, so those who said Taemin as one of their first guesses got some karma points from me as well. Congrats to all, and thanks for playing :D And just so you know, someone's figured who Saburo is, and what his relation to some other characters in this story might be. I'll bring her up when it's the right time for it, and until then, feel free to guess, too! (because there is, in fact, a correlation).

Thanks for sticking around chocolate banana cupcakes!